‘I Have Lived So Much Of My Life Online’: Meghan Rienks On Book ‘You’re Not Special’

(CBS Local)– Meghan Rienks has been making videos on the internet for over a decade.

The actor and YouTuber has over 2 million subscribers on YouTube and over a million followers on Instagram. Rienks recently wrote about her experience going from a small town to social media stardom in the new Simon & Schuster book “You’re Not Special: A (Sort-Of) Memoir.” While it took Rienks five years to write the book, she loved having a new runway to explore her life and feelings.

“It was very hard, but it was such a different format than the videos and anything else I’ve done before,” said Rienks in an interview with CBS Local’s DJ Sixsmith. “It opens up a whole realm of being really honest in a way that you can think about it. It took me way longer than I thought it was going to take me. I wrote part of the first draft when I was 22 and I’m 26 now. I was like, ‘oh you thought you knew everything.’ This version has a lot more room and openness to grow.”

In addition to her YouTube videos, Rienks also has a podcast called “Don’t Blame Me” and she has been in movies like “The Honor List” and shows such as Hulu’s “Freakish.” In her book, Rienks discusses the impact mononucleosis had on her life in high school and why she dropped out of college to pursue her career as a content creator.

“It happened for me in the most humbling way. I went to college and I hated college,” said Rienks. “Everyone should try to go to college, but if you don’t like it that’s fine. I hated it and I was miserable. I always wanted to act and that was always my plan. I had a really bad college experience. The college thing was rough. I have lived so much of my life online and you choose to be really forward and talk about things or ignore stuff and keep making content. The hardest part was to keep making content through all that stuff. A lot of people use my videos as an escape, but what’s my escape.”

Rienks’ book is available wherever books are sold. Watch all of DJ Sixsmith’s interviews from “The Sit-Down” series here.